The present invention relates to the field of materials management, and more particularly to systems designed for containing, transferring, delivering and dispensing various materials. The material management system of the invention is configured to deliver contamination free streams from a vessel that can be emptied and refilled repeatedly, without intervening cleaning of the vessel or its components.
Prior known material management systems have encountered difficulty transferring from a containment vessel certain thick, viscous fluids, liquids and other types of materials that may resist pumping and that can be damaging to pumping apparatus. As used herein, a fluid is a substance that is capable of flowing and that changes its shape at a steady rate when acted upon by a force tending to change its shape. Certain materials, while normally not considered to be fluids, also can be made to flow under certain conditions, for example, soft solids and semi-solids. Vast quantities of fluids are used in transportation, manufacturing, farming, mining, and industry. Thick fluids, viscous fluids, semi-solid fluids, visco-elastic products, pastes, gels and other fluid materials that are not easy to dispense from fluid sources (for example, pressure vessels, open containers, supply lines, etc.) comprise a sizable portion of the fluids utilized. These fluids include thick and/or viscous chemicals and other such materials, for example, lubricating greases, adhesives, sealants and mastics. In the food processing industry, cheeses, creams, food pastes and the like must be moved from point to point without degrading the food's quality and freshness. In the manufacture and use of industrial chemicals and pharmaceutical products, hard to move fluids that are thick and/or viscous are commonly used. The ability to transport these materials from one place to another, for example, from a container to a manufacturing or processing site, and in a manner that protects the quality of the material, is of vital importance.
Delivering and dispensing thick and/or viscous materials presents a challenge because these materials resist flowing and are not easily dispensed or moved out of their containers. Prior known methods of delivering viscous fluids have concentrated on establishing and maintaining a fluid tight seal between pushing pistons or follower plates, and side walls of the containers of viscous materials. These devices, however, are highly susceptible to disruption if the sidewalls of the viscous material container become out-of-round or dented. Moreover, some systems require high precision in all its parts, and require relatively bulky and expensive equipment. Furthermore, most known systems for material transport of fluids require the use of an external pump with a container having a follower plate. Moreover, the pump and follower plate are connected or otherwise coupled so as to increase the expense and mechanical sophistication of such material transfer systems.
Heretofore known vessels and containers were basic moderate-high-pressure vessels having characteristics that were deficient in transferring difficult to move materials. For example, such vessels often were relatively heavy, mild steel, converted air receivers. Other such vessels were merely thin-walled, special steel alloy, converted propane tanks. Accordingly, the vessels were manufactured under DOT regulations, and therefore required relatively frequent re-certification. Such containers also were susceptible to internal rusting, and often were closed, and therefore difficult to clean. Furthermore, the containers were not bimodal (for liquids and/or thick fluids). In addition, past container internals consisted of only one internal subsystem, a follower device that had a single function, to prevent high-pressure gas bypassing. These follower devices were difficult to fabricate, relatively expensive, rust-prone and could not wipe the vessel walls, even if desired by the user. Many such systems contained heavy “ballast” that was not modifiable after fabrication and were easily canted (tipped) if container was placed on its side.
One disclosed reusable viscous material dispensing apparatus system includes a follower boat having a lower hull portion that is weighted with ballast. The diameter of the boat is smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder, such that the boat floats in a cylinder filled with viscous materials, such as thick lubricating greases. In use of the system, the cylinder is filled with a viscous material through its ingress and egress opening. By applying compressed gas to the boat from above, the boat attempts to force the viscous material out of the container through a common ingress and egress opening, until the bottom of the boat seats on and blocks the opening. However, the disclosed container is configured as a vertical, closed, pressure vessel that may be difficult to clean. Moreover, the disclosed boat is a single-function (prevents gas bypass), heavy, difficult to manufacture apparatus.
Personal care products, such as lotions, creams, hair care products, cosmetics, and the like have been slow to move toward a more environmentally friendly packaging. This may be because the industry is, to a large extent, packaging-driven, with the commercial success of many products a direct result of the public's affection for the packaging that accompanies the product rather than the quality of the product itself. Companies that sell colognes, perfumes, eye make-up, cosmetic creams, etc. may spend much more capital on the response of potential customers to their packaging than their products. As a result, cosmetics and personal care products companies have resisted the movement to more environmentally friendly packaging, leading to significant waste and a higher cost to both the manufacturer and the customer for repeated purchasing of the same packaging. The trend, however, is for both companies and consumers to give credence to the need to conserve resources and reduce waste, and look for new and better ways to preserve both the environment and save money in the process.
One such way in which waste can be reduced is by reusable packaging, The present invention relates generally but not exclusively to the field of materials management, and more particularly to refill stations that are used in connection with refilling product containers such as cosmetics, creams, lotions, shampoos, gels, skin care products, hair care products, and the like, which are traditionally packaged and marketed in single use disposable plastic containers. A hand-held refillable material transfer system may be configured to move highly viscous materials from a remote point of manufacture to a point of sale. The material transfer system may be configured to dispense only the required amount of material without waste, which is especially important when fluids or materials are not easily handled and cannot be transmitted easily or safely from container to container without unwanted exposure. Preferably, such a material transfer system reduces or eliminates costs and expenses attendant to using traditional disposable personal packaging as well as the waste of material associated with most existing systems. Because certain materials are sensitive to contamination of one form or another, such a material transfer system may be a sealed or closed system to protect product quality and allow sampling without exposing the container to contamination. This provides an allocation of product quality to either the supplier or the user. A refillable material transfer system may further be configured to use low cost components, such as a non-pulsating solution for dispensing and transferring thick fluids and other such materials.
Refillable and reusable packaging for consumer goods will continue to emerge and become more prominent as the need to reduce packaging waste becomes a moral and economical imperative. Reducing packaging waste is a goal of businesses and governments alike, from municipalities that face the growing problem of landfills and waste management, to companies who need to remain competitive as competitors turn to refillable packaging. This issue will only continue to grow and move to the forefront of the public's consciousness as the problems associated with consumer packaging waste exacerbates.
One solution to the problem of consumer packaging waste is disclosed in United States Patent Publication No. 2011/0225106, where a refillable consumer packaging station can be used to refill consumer products in a specially designed refillable container. An example of a type of refillable container is disclosed in United States Patent Publication No. 2014/0209640. The contents of these references are fully incorporated by reference herein. A personal refillable container is brought to the station by the consumer after it is depleted, and the refill station can refill and recharge the container so that it can dispense the new product without the need for new packaging. The shared savings to the manufacturer and the consumers for this reduction in waste can be in the millions of dollars.
The benefits of such a refill station are multi-fold, as discussed in the incorporated patent applications. In addition to the elimination of waste, the refill stations can provide a wide variety of products that can be customized to the customer's preferences without stocking inventory for every conceivable variation. For example, the refill station may offer a shampoo product for refilling the personal container. In addition to the base shampoo, fragrances can be incorporated into the shampoo at the refill station, as well as options such as conditioner, oils, or other modifiers. The customer can personalize the shampoo product to his or her preferences, and create a shampoo that is specifically designed for that consumer. The shampoo provider can sell more product while reducing inventory, and the reusable container ensures that no waste is created once the shampoo is depleted. The consumer simply returns to the refill station, where it is preferably located in a mall, shopping center, or other convenient location, and the consumer's personal preferences are always available to refill the packaging.
A refill station for refilling consumer packages includes one or more vessels of product housed in a sturdy shelter, and a cubby or suitable structure that receives a refillable personal container from the customer. The cubby can include a mechanical arm to grasp and maneuver the container into position to refill the container, a guide that aligns the container, or another mechanism such as a conveyor, robotic arm, void/recess for retaining the container, or the like. What is important is that the station can receive the personal refillable container and locate the container in the appropriate position in a reliable manner given that the operator may be a customer unfamiliar with the station. The positioning mechanism thereby establishes a reliable connection for a hermetically sealed transfer of the product from the station to the customer's refillable container.
A refillable aerosol cartridge system for dispensing various materials, including thick, viscous and other types of fluids that resist pumping and/or which might be damaging to pumping apparatus can be used for personal care items as well as other household creams, soaps, and dispensable goods. The system further provides a cartridge and dispenser adapted for delivery of contamination-free flow of fluid product, which can be emptied and refilled repeatedly without intervening cleaning of the cartridge.
Once the container is in position, the refill station will engage the refillable container at a multi-port nozzle adapted to exchange the product from the station to the personal refill container. In order to communicate the product to the refillable container, the nozzle must engage the refill station's port and the refill container's port in an airtight relationship in a quick and reliable manner. This engagement must account for some residue on the ports, as material may build up on the port over time. This engagement is best achieved by a press-engagement with an elastic O-ring fitting inside the nozzle made from a rigid or semi-rigid material to prevent air from entering into the nozzle. The fitting or connector can be plastic, metal, or a resilient material, such as those offered by Lenz Inc. of Dayton, Ohio. This engagement may also be achieved by a press-engagement with the nozzle made from an elastic material to prevent air from entering into the nozzle. The nozzle may be a flexible hose or other tubular geometry made from rubber or another elastomer.
The nozzle forms a key component in the fluid transfer operation. A multi-port configuration allows for one or more “additives” or “modifiers” such as fragrance, oils, conditioners, dyes, supplements, enhancers, and the like to be incorporated and mixed into the product at the refill station. The ability to introduce fragrances, dyes, and other additives in an aseptic and controlled manner downstream of the refill station prevents contamination at the refill station outlet and permits the exchange of the fluid product to be automated and accomplished by a customer with no working knowledge of the refill station. This provides an advantage over other product distribution stations that expose the product to the atmosphere and eliminate the possibility of an aseptic transfer. However, the container must still be physically present to read the container and interrogate any markings or codings on the container. The present invention addresses this shortcoming. Further, the issue of recalling a product in the case of a refillable bottle is problematic if there is no way to track the specific products, and as importantly the specific batch or lot numbers, of the products. Absent this feature, when a product is recalled as is want to happen for certain pharmaceuticals, foods, and in more and more frequent cases personal care products such as creams, shampoos, and the like, then every refillable container must be recalled for public safety reasons. This is clearly a situation to be avoided by the refillable bottle purveyors, as the cost of such recalls is directly proportional to the number of recalled products.
To avoid this situation, the ingredient batch or lot numbers can be physically imprinted on the refill bottle each time the bottle is refilled. However, when a refill bottle has been reused/refilled a large number of times, the markings may become confusing where the space is limited for such markings, especially when there are a number of ingredients (fragrances, softeners, dyes, etc.). Thus, the multiple physical markings is not a good methodology for tracking the ingredients of a refillable container, and a better system is needed.